2/7/12

-Headline of the Day-"Are Republicans About To Commit Medicare Suicide?"

Spoiler Alert: Yes.

After getting beat up in public opinion over their Medicare-bashing plan last year, House Republicans are back and they want to end Medicare. According to the report, "The backlash [against the Ryan Plan] was ugly. But Republicans seem to have forgotten how poisonous that vote really was, and remains... because they’re poised to do it again. This time they’re signaling they’ll move ahead, with a modified plan -- one that, though less radical, would still fundamentally remake and roll back one of the country’s most popular and enduring safety net programs."

See, the problem is that Republican primary voters are prize chumps. I mean they must hold some sort of chumpishness record. Not only did the GOP manage to convince them that getting rid of Medicare was a good idea, they managed to get them excited about it. It really just replaces Medicare it with a voucher scheme that introduces a pointless middle-man and is guaranteed to drive up costs, but that doesn't matter. Rush Limbaugh said it was great and that's all it takes for these rubes to bend over and drop their pants.

So now the primary voters want to get screwed. They expect it. And, if someone doesn't offer to stick them in the shorts with this scheme, they're just not going to vote for them. "That creates a dilemma," the report tells us, "Vote against the platform and face a primary. Vote for it, and face constituent backlash."